Ruta Sepetys on Writing: 'You, The Story'

Internationally acclaimed writer and #1 New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction, Ruta Sepetys, returns to Writer’s Voices to discuss her nonfiction debut,You: The Story: A Writer’s Guide to Craft Through Memory. Designed for aspiring writers, her book is a how-to for developing storytellers to use and incorporate their own life experiences and memories to deepen and enhance their work. Sepetys said, “I tell readers often that to infuse that depth of feeling, I reflect and draw upon my own emotional experiences, my own memories, and that they can do that too and so that was the inspiration for writing You: The Story.” Additionally, Sepetys also teaches writers where to look to find new subject matters to write about. For individuals who are struggling with their storytelling, she encourages them to look through their own personal belongings to seek inspiration. “Truly, story is everywhere… Every item in your house, there’s a story attached to it. When I go to an estate sale or to the Goodwill, I look at all those items – the shoes, I can look at the heels and see that the owner probably danced the night away month after month and everything has a story, and so I’m trying to help readers reframe some of their perspectives in You so they too can identify story in their own life.”

Considered a crossover novelist, Sepetys’ books are enjoyed by a wide range of readers. Her goal for this book, therefore, was for it to be accessible and user-friendly to her readership, including those who don’t necessarily know that they have a story to tell. “So the structure is very simple… the chapters break down the building blocks of story – plot, character development, voice, perspective, setting, dialogue, research, revision and input, and then there’s a chapter on creative courage, and in each chapter, in addition to a recap at the end of the chapter, there are writing prompts and there are, there’s a section, a page called “Stories to Uncover and Discover” …I’m hoping that if the reader doesn’t know what the answer is to something I’m asking in the Discover and Uncover, that they’ll research it. So that’s kind of how the way the book is put together.”

Sepetys, who has presented to NATO, The Library of Congress, European Parliament, and Embassies worldwide, firmly believes that if we each took the time to learn more about one another, to listen to each other’s stories, then we would have more unified communities and stronger human connections. She explained, “What I’m speaking to them about is that knowledge of story facilitates human understanding. If we don’t know each other’s story, we’re constantly misjudging each other…Think about how much progress we could make if we know, if you have a better sense of one another, how we might be able to bridge the width between us as countries, as community members, so that’s also part of the inspiration for writing You: The Story…I truly believe that people want to be compassionate, but sometimes they just, they don’t know the story… Maybe we wouldn’t be frightened of people wandering into our yard. We would know one another! It would make our community safer, and more compassionate, and more supportive, so this is what can happen if we share our story.”